After an overlooked debut, Sleep released a well-received followup, Sleep’s Holy Mountain, in 1992 on Earache. The record had obvious Black Sabbath influences, and has been described as ‘the best Black Sabbath never wrote.’

The success of Sleep’s Holy Mountain landed Sleep a contract with a larger record company (London), who payed up front for Sleep’s next record. As the story goes, Sleep went out and spent all the money on Orange amplifiers and marijuana (although this is denied by the band), then went on to record what is easily one of both stoner rock and doom metal’s defining moments; the 1 hour long Dopesmoker.

London refused to publish the record, and Sleep privately released a somewhat shortened version of the song (as a bootleg) in 1998 as Jerusalem before splitting up. Jerusalem was properly released in 1999, however it took until 2003 for Dopesmoker to be released in all its glory on Teepee Records.

Sleep’s guitarist, ... read more »